Powerade-Team Pilipinas lost to Iran NT

Powerade-Team Pilipinas lost to defending champion Iran, 78-88 but virtually clinched a berth in the quarterfinals of the 25th FIBA-Asia men’s basketball championship in Tianjin, China Tuesday.

The Nationals continued to wax hot from three-point range a day after torching Chinese-Taipei from the same spot (15-of-30) Monday night in a 77-70 win.

But the 16 three-pointers they launched against the Iranians were not enough to offset a team described by coach Yeng Guiao as “big and too strong."

“We have problems matching up with their size," Guiao said.

Beyond the physical differences, however, Guiao pointed to the big discrepancy in free-throw shooting as the one that took the fight out of the Nationals during the penultimate day of the eliminations.

Iran was 23-of-30 from the foul line while RP only went to the same area just four times and made two of them.

“The most glaring part of the stats is that we only had two free throws and they had 23. So just from their free throws, we’ve lost by 21 points," Guiao pointed out during the post-game media conference at the Tianjin gym.

Despite suffering their second loss in four games (excluding Sri Lanka), the Nationals are already assured of entering the knockout quarterfinals, a scenario Japan made possible after routing Kuwait, 78-51, later in the day. Japan and Chinese-Taipei are fighting for the final berth in Group F.

A win over Kuwait on Wednesday would formalize the Nationals’ entry into the next round and assure them of a better finish than the ninth place they achieved in Tokushima, Japan two years ago.

“Kuwait is a dangerous, pesky team and we have to stay focused and not be complacent," Guiao said, hoping to end their elimination campaign on a winning note.

As the likely no. 3 team in Group A, the Nationals may end up facing either coach Mario Palma’s Jordan team or Fhadi El-Katib and Lebanon in the knockout stage.

But for Guaio, “The experience we had from the Iran game is going to go a long way in giving us a better chance of upsetting either Jordan or Lebanon."

Against Iran, a team that demolished them, 80-65, in the Jones Cup, an upset was highly improbable, although the Nationals gave them a big scare in the second half behind their remarkable three-point shooting that brought them to within 82-73 after trailing by as many as 38-14 in the second quarter.

But Oshin Sahakian scored on a lay up, Mahdi Kamrany netted a three-pointer and Memphis Grizzlies stalwart Hamed Ehadadi made one from the foul line to quell the RP uprising, 88-75.

Shortly after his split from the foul line, Iran coach Veselin Matic finally gave the 7-foot-2 Ehadadi a rest with 1:25 remaining. He finished with 21 points, 16 rebounds, five assists and five block shots.

“We tried our best to keep the game close and I think we did a better job in the second half, although we couldn’t defend against their big man," said Guiao.

Matic, who took over from Rajko Toroman after the Tokushima FIBA-Asia tournament two years ago, agreed with his Filipino counterpart.

“It’s not easy against Pilipinas," he said. “They’re improving everyday from the William Jones Cup. We watched their last four games. They’re completely different; they fixed the situation."

The Nationals can draw solace from a number of things:

The Nationals, who went on a 4-0 start and held a 7-2 edge on Jayjay Helterbrand’s three-point shot at the 743 mark of the opening period, were led by James Yap and Willie Miller with 14 points each as they accounted for seven of the team’s three-pointers.

The Philippines also outrebounded the hefty Iranians, 37-35.

The scores:

Iran 88 - Nikkah Bahrami 25, Ehadadi 21, Kamrany 14, Sahakian 11, Davari 10, Afagh 5, Tadjik 2, Davoudichegani 0, Doraghi 0.

Philippines 78 - Yap 14, Miller 14, Norwood 13, Baguio 11, Dillinger 9, Helterbrand 9, Thoss 4, Pennisi 3, Taulava 1, Raymundo 0, Aguilar 0, Santos 0.

Quarterscores: 27-14; 51-34; 74-58; 88-78